Guidance
Baseline design: superblock 1,200 place secondary school
Superblock baseline designs for a 1,200 place 11 to 16 secondary school with a typical curriculum.
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Baseline design for a 1,200 place secondary school: superblock
The design shown is a 2 or 3 storey building for 1,200 pupils aged 11 to 16. This is a compact and efficient building form, with all but the sports facilities in a single block, reducing circulation distances and facilitating links between departments.
Other key features of the design are:
- the sports hall suite is a separate block, and could be replaced by an existing sports building if one was available
- all general and practical teaching spaces are 7.8 metres deep
- the dining space provides a central focus and can be used as a milling space during the school day and, in conjunction with the hall and drama space, for after school events
- voids bring daylight into the corridor and the backs of classrooms (they also act as ventilation stacks providing natural ventilation particularly in the summertime)
- teaching spaces wrap around the central zone of dining, hall and drama
- departmental staff bases and offices are dispersed ensuring easy access from teaching spaces and supporting passive supervision
- toilets are grouped centrally for efficient servicing (this is possible because travel distances are shorter in this type)